The Icy Rose
by FaithIsAccidental
Summary: Juvia goes to Gray's funeral. Each day, she goes to say goodbye and gets something each time. Is it from him?
1. Chapter 1

The bell tolled. Again and again. It rang in her ears, almost making it unbearable. Day after day she had stalked him, sometimes in the shadows, sometimes she just stood in the open. Every time one thing was the same: She always fantasised about her and her Gray-sama. All the black made everything seem even more depressing than it already was. Juvia couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do with her free time now, who she would talk to now that Gray was gone. It had only been a day and she already missed him. As everyone else left, Juvia continued to sit there, unaware of the world around her. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of everything they had been through. The sun began to sink, colouring the sky orange. It only added to the hurt she was feeling. Watching the sunset was one of Juvia's favourite things to do with Gray. Her hands swept across her cheeks in a futile attempt to stop her tears. She stood up, a red rose in hand, and made her way closer to his resting place. "Gray-sama..." it hurt her just to say his name, "Juvia loves you." Juvia neatly placed the rose, propping it up against the large stone, and slowly walked away, visions of Gray still racing through her mind as she tried to cope with her loss. Ignoring everyone, Juvia walked straight to Fairy Hills, the rain following her like it used to when there was no real love in her life, when there was no Gray. When she entered her apartment, she lunged for the doll of Gray on her bed and curled up, holding it as close to her chest as she could. "Gray-sama..." was all she said as her eyes closed and she fell into a heavy sleep.

Juvia awoke suddenly. She could hardly tell it was 11:00am with all the rainclouds blotting out the sun. It hadn't started raining, but she could tell that it would soon. Not bothering to change out of the black she was wearing from yesterday, Juvia grabbed her pink umbrella, the one adorned with hearts and a white trim, and walked out the door. She ran to where she had been the day before, hoping for the best, hoping it was all a nightmare. Her heart sank lower than it ever had done before when she saw a large stone with the name 'Gray Fullbuster chiseled on it that was supporting a red rose. She looked down at her feet, distraught, when she saw it glistening. A perfectly formed rose, made of ice that rested completely still on a package of some sort with a tag that read 'Juvia'. She scooped up the two items and carried them back to her apartment. Once she was in the solitude of her own living space, Juvia placed the rose in her freezer to keep it for as long as possible. Juvia then gave the package on her coffee table her full, undivided attention. She sat on her couch and pulled off the ribbon. The wrapping was neat, with nothing sticking out and everything covered so that no one could see what was inside. When she pulled off the wrapper, Juvia locked her eyes on a piece of paper and followed it as it twirled and danced in the air as it fell to the floor. She bent down and read what was on the paper. 'I love you too, Juvia.' The handwriting seemed familiar, but Juvia knew her thought, her hope, was nothing more than an impossibility. She opened the wooden box and eyed the contents. A pendant. She leaned in closer to the accessory. It was silver. A silver cross with another smaller cross in the middle of it. Juvia recognised it almost instantly. It was his pendant. It was Gray's. She wanted so hard to believe that Gray gave it to her, that it was a token of his love, that he was finally showing his feelings for her, but how could he be? He was gone. He had been taken from her. She herself had gone to say goodbye just yesterday. Juvia could still feel Gray's warmth coming from the pendant. Wanting to keep her memory of him alive and wanting to keep him as close to her as possible, she fastened the pendant around her neck and let if fall onto her chest and hang there. The rest of the day mainly consisted of it raining constantly whilst Juvia layed on her bed and thinking of Gray. Her thoughts were disrupted momentarily when Erza and Levy knocked on Juvia's door asking about how she was and if there was anything they could do. Juvia responded with simple grunts before getting back to her thoughts. As time dragged on, Juvia's eyelids grew heavy and sleep finally crept over her, making her feel warm and relaxed.

Juvia had another late start, sleeping in until 11:30am. Even though Gray had only been gone for two days, Juvia found that she couldn't care about anything. She rubbed her eyes, clearing them of any remnants of sleep, before getting in the shower. After her shower, Juvia got dressed, reverting back to her old look. Navy blue clothes, a teru-teru bozu doll and tightly curling her hair at her shoulders. Once she was fully dressed, she grabbed her umbrella and walked out the door. For a moment or two, Juvia thought about going to the guild, to see people and try and get her life back on track, but she just couldn't act on the thought of letting Gray go. Making up her mind, Juvia started walking to the cemetary. Part of her hoped she would see Gray there whilst the other part of her told her that her hopes were nothing more than a postponed disappointment and when she got there, everything would be the same as the day before, no Gray there to greet her. When she got there, her hopes turned to despair as she found no Gray. Juvia made her way to Gray's grave and dropped to her knees as she read the inscription over and over again in her head. She bowed her head as she repeated the words to herself. Her eyes rested on the things that lay in front of her. A rose of ice laying on another package with her name written on it. This one was larger than the other was. She grabbed the two items and carried them back to her apartment in Fairy Hills. She placed the ice-rose in her freezer, right next to the other one before closing the freezer and sitting on her bed with the package. She opened it up and read the piece of paper 'I know that you've always wanted to be one.' The handwriting was definitely the same as the other note. She opened the wooden box and looked at the gift inside. It was a black sweater. Juvia removed it from the box and opened it up. In the centre, a bright blue butterfly had it's wings spread, giving the sweater a design that Juvia just loved. She took off everything before pulling the sweater over her head and putting on a simple pair of navy blue jeans. She then pulled the pendant out from under her new top so that it was visible to the world, if there was someone there to see it. She locked her door and spent the rest of the day reading the note and ignoring everyone. She pondered who had sent the note. She had only ever told a select few number of people of her childish aspiration to be a butterfly. She wanted so hard to believe that it was Gray and that this was all just a long-running nightmare and when she woke up, she would be there, laying next to Gray with everything being fine between them. Slouched on the floor, Juvia reached for her doll of Gray and hugged it tightly as she shut her eyes for the last time for that night.

Juvia awoke surprisingly early the next morning. Her eyes fluttered open and she eyed the clock. 7:30am. She only got up this early when she wanted to get to the guild to see Gray as soon as he walked into the guild, but she had no need to do that any more. Now, she had nothing to do. She looked at what she was wearing, pondering whether or not she needed to get changed. She suddenly realised that she had gotten changed into something that Gray had given her. Or so she wanted believe. The real fact was that she didn't know who had given her the sweater. Or the pendant. But she knew, without a doubt, who she wanted it to be. Juvia took a walk around the town of Magnolia. She loved how empty the streets were. It gave her time to think. Time to get her priorities straight. She let the events of the past two days and her memories of the time she spent with Gray wash over her as she walked aimlessly through the streets. Thoughts alone weren't enough. She yearned for Gray, to see him in person and for him to take away the rain inside her heart like he did when they first met. It began raining heavily as she continued to think about how much she missed Gray. The rain followed her as she sped up, heading for a destination she had just thought about. She sighed heavily as she reached the spot. They were there. Just like they had been the last two days. An icy rose and a present. Like the two previous ones, the present had a name tag on it that read 'Juvia', just like the other ones had. She took the two items and carried them to her apartment. She placed the rose in her freezer and unwrapped the present. She picked up the piece of paper. 'The best thing I ever did was catch you on that roof.' Now there was no doubt in her mind. Juvia knew that it was Gray who was sending them, but how? Had he planned it all? Had he known that it would end up like this? The main thing that she focused on, was that this was proof that Gray had feelings for Juvia. Maybe not as strong for the ones that she had for him, but he had them. She opened the box and looked at the contents. It was a picture of Gray. She had countless pictures of him, some even depicted him topless, but this was the best by far. This one came from Gray. Juvia rushed to the guild, looking for answers. She walked straight up to Erza and Lucy, figuring they would probably be able to give the best advice for her current predicament. "Juvia has a problem", she admitted to the pair of women sat in front of her.

"What's up?" Lucy asked

"Juvia has been getting ice-roses and presents from Gray-sama..."

Her words were cut off by Erza and Lucy simultaneously verifying what they had just heard, "GRAY?!"

Juvia nodded as the two looked at each other.

"Juvia", Erza started, "Gray's gone. He can't be..."

"Juvia knows, but only Gray-sama knows what Juvia thinks about butterflies, and only Gray-sama caught Juvia on the roof."

"Juvia", Lucy said, "If you believe that Gray's behind this, then we can't make you change your mind, but please don't get too caught up in this. He is gone after all. Even if it is Gray, these things won't keep coming forever. Soon it will have to stop."

Juvia nodded and walked out of the guild hall silently as everyone watched her leave. She figured that once she fell asleep, she wouldn't have to endure the rest of the day. By the time she got back to Fairy Hills, the day was almost out so even if she didn't sleep, she wouldn't have to wait long for tomorrow to come. She still decided it would be better for her to get some sleep though, so she kissed the photo of Gray she had got that day and quietly hummed herself to sleep.

-Juvia awoke with a start. She hadn't realised that even when she was dreaming she could make the weather take a turn for the worse. It was only 9:00am and her current feelings had already lead to a heavy downpour and a few cracks of thunder, one of which had woken her up. She found the picture of Gray laying beside her, right where she left it. She picked it up and stood it up on the chest of drawers beside her bed. She admired it for a moment or two, appreciating where the picture had come from. From Gray himself. She left the picture alone and she walked out the door. The air was cold and turned her hands red. The low temperatures reminded Juvia of what it was like to be with Gray. It always seemed to be cold around him, but when ever she got close to him, he never failed to warm her up. But now, now that he was gone, she couldn't feel his warmth next to her. And it worried her. For the first time in a very long time, Juvia felt alone. Lost even. Gray was always the light at the end of her tunnel, but with him gone, all she could see was darkness. Her only consolation was the things that lay on his grave for her every day. Pictures of Gray kept rushing around in her mind, not letting her concentrate on anything else as she kept walking, not thinking about where she was going, she didn't even care where she was going. She just wanted to see him again. She snapped back to reality and looked around, determining where she was. She knew exactly where she was. She had been here every day. The present was already in her hand when she looked down. The rose was too. Juvia ran home before she could think of anything else. Her legs took her as fast as she could, racing to her apartment in Fairy Hills. She placed the rose with all the rest that she had gotten over the days. Juvia then turned all her attention to the package on her bed. She wondered what was in this one. She ripped the wrapping off and read the paper out loud to herself 'When you see a shooting star, make a wish. It will come true. I wished and I found you'. "Gray-sama", Juvia said to herself softly. She opened the box and lifted the contents out of it. In her hands, she held a silver tiara with and intricate pattern of flowers and butterflies. In the centre of the tiara, a picture was set in a groove in the metal. The picture was of Gray and Juvia together, from the first time they went to the beach together, just the two of them. They were smiling widely. The picture brought back fond memories of their time together on that day. Juvia admired the tiara for a moment before she placed it on her head and looked at herself in the mirror. She adjusted the tiara a few times before she was satisfied with how she looked.

The day was already getting on before Juvia even awoke. She had slept in, more than she usually did. She rolled over to look at her picture of Gray. She smiled at the sight of him, not as much as if he were really there but it was good enough for her. Juvia then turned to look at her clock. 12:00pm. It was mid day and she had only just awoken. There was only one thought on her mind. She couldn't wait to see what was waiting for her today. Juvia made her way to the cemetary, not stopping for anyone or anything. When she got there, confusion swept across her face. Where was it? There was nothing there. Perhaps Lucy was right. She shouldn't have gotten to used to this.

"Looking for something?" The sudden words made Juvia jump in fright. She recognised that low husky tone. She turned around slowly, wanting to see who she thought it was. Who she hoped it was. She wanted to see Gray. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as she squealed in delight. She hugged the figure in front of her as hard as she could. "Oi, Baka!" the man in her grasp shouted.

"Gray-sama!" was all Juvia could say in response.

Gray rolled his eyes before looking down. He planted a soft kiss on Juvia's lips and whispered in her ear. Juvia blushed in response but had no time to linger on what he had just told her. Grabbing his wrist, she dragged Gray back to Fairy Tail and into the middle of the hall to show him off to everyone in there. She had got her Gray-sama back.

"Juvia is so happy", she said, holding him close to her.

"I know" was all Gray said as he held her just as close to him.


	2. Chapter 2

It had just been a normal job. Nothing should have gone wrong. A quick job to earn some jewels easy. Take out a few bandits. Simplicity itself. Gray and Juvia went together, they didn't figure that they'd need any help with the job so they didn't ask for any. When they got to where they needed to be, they looked at each other in surprise. Why would any one need to hire a guild to deal with ten bandits? A few guards could have sorted it out with ease.

It didn't take long for Gray and Juvia to wipe out the bandits. Their magic was extremely effective together after all. The pair of mages turned on their heels and started on their way home when it happened. A loud, almost deafening, bang. A gun shot. Gray turned to Juvia and ran his eyes up and down her body, checking she wasn't hurt.

"Gray-sama...", Juvia covered her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. He looked down at himself. He was bleeding. Crimson ran down his stomach as he watched it, in too much shock to do anything else. A small amount of blue oozed out of the wound.

"What the hell?" is all he could think. No one bleeds blue and he was no exception. Had they done something to their bullets? Gray's legs suddenly started feeling weird. Weak. Juvia wrapped his arm around her shoulder, propping him up as they started walking home as best they could with his wound.

Gray and Juvia burst into the guild hall. Tears were streaming down her face as she lay him on a table and cried for help. The guild gathered around in curiosity, wondering what had happened on their last job. Wendy placed her hands over his wound as they started glowing a pale blue colour. She concentrated hard on helping her fellow guild mate, exhausting herself time and time again. She gave it one last try and sighed in relief as the wound closed up. Gray's eyes fluttered open and closed. It was obvious to everyone that he was fighting against his body just to stay awake. His endeavour failed as his eyes drifted shut. He wasn't moving. It didn't even look like he was breathing. Mira took hold of his wrist and looked at Juvia. She shook her head and tears began welling up in Juvia's eyes again. Gray had finally gone, and it was on one of the easiest jobs there was. Every one offered Juvia condolences, they knew that she was probably the most hurt by this, after all, she did openly express her feelings for Gray over and over again.

It was the day after he had gone. A few members of the guild had gone out, getting things from various parts of the town that they would use to put the now late Gray to rest. Juvia picked out a wooden coffin with a blue inside. Blue always was his favourite colour, she thought to herself as she ran her hand across the material, admiring how soft it felt. She used the reward from the job they had just been on to pay for the coffin and a bunch of red roses for him. She walked back to the guild with the roses and gave them to Mira who placed them behind the bar until they were ready to put Gray underground. The coffin was dropped off at the guild by a couple of men from the shop they had bought it at. Natsu and Gajeel picked up Gray and lowered him into the large wooden box that was laid on the floor in the middle of the guild before Natsu closed the lid gently, an astonishing feat for him as he was in the habit of destroying nearly everything he touched.

"We'll bury him tomorrow?" Mira suggested. Juvia nodded and walked out the guild, heading straight for her apartment in Fairy Hills. She didn't talk to anyone on the way there and once she was there, she ignored everyone who knocked on her door, unwilling to talk about what she had just been through with losing Gray. Juvia curled up in her bed and tossed side to side as she struggled to get to sleep and escape the events of the last few days.

Back in the guild, Gray woke up, gasping for air. He exclaimed in surprise as his head bounced off the top of the coffin when he tried to sit up. Using both hands, he pushed the lid upwards. It was just as dark in the guild as it had been in the coffin. He could have sworn he had been shot, but there was no wound, no bullet hole. His mind flickered back to the last moments he could remember. Wendy was using her magic on him and everyone was gathered around him with worry and sorrow plastered across their faces whilst looking down at him. Had he just been sleeping? No, they wouldn't put him in a coffin if he was just asleep. Even the hot-headed flame brain wouldn't pull that kind of joke. He came to the only conclusion he found even remotely plausauble. He had died. But then, how was he alive now? He thought of the blue liquid that came out of his wound when he was shot. They must have used some sort of poison. Gray closed the lid of the box he had just been in and walked out of the guild. He needed answers, but he also needed to let people know he was alright. He walked over to his apartment and thought about what to do. An idea hit him suddenly. He picked up a small wooden box and removed his pendant from around his neck and put it in the box before wrapping it up with a note and putting Juvia's name on it. He used his magic to create a rose and placed it with the package. He took a walk down town and looked for open shops. He found a couple and used whatever jewels he could get his hands on to buy a few things. Gray took the items home and placed them in boxes before wrapping them up, putting a small note in each one. He made a rose for each one of the packages he had just wrapped. The first part was done, now for the next bit. He took them all, with the roses, to a place he knew he could trust for what he needed to do. Gray gave all the packages and roses to a woman behind the counter and gave her specific instructions with a small pouch of jewels.

Gray set out to find answers. He decided to start at the beginning, it seemed like the best idea. He headed out to where they had cleaned out the bandits. It was completely deserted, but that was to be expected, he and Juvia had near enough destroyed them with their magic. He dug around through what was left of the bandits' camp. Every now and then, he'd come across a ring or necklace that they had stolen, but never found anything that he wanted. Hours went by as he continued searching. Then he found a piece of paper. It looked like someone had tried to burn it, but they hadn't had time to completely do so. He could still make out a few words 'Gray' 'poison' 'don't kill' 'necessary'. It raised more questions than it answered, so he kept looking for more things. There was nothing else there though, nothing but women's accessories and rubble. There wasn't even a trail to follow and find where the bandits had gone. He sat against a tree and looked up. The stars had a way of relaxing him as he closed his eyes and settled down for the night.

He left the site with haste, desperately wanting to find answers. He walked in the opposite direction of where his guild was. He decided it was where they were most likely to go, as far away from the nearest guid as they could. He kept walking , stopping every now and then to take a look around to see if there was any kind of trail he could follow. He spent the entire day looking for any kind of clues to either find the bandits or find the answers that he wanted but it was all in vain, there was nothing for him to find. He made a shelter from his ice magic and crawled inside. He curled up to fit inside better and closed his eyes and let sleep fall over him.

He woke up quite late the next morning and crawled out of his shelter before stretching and yawning. He'd decided the night before, there was no trail to follow and there was no way to answer his questions. He'd pushed them all to the back of his mind and tried to forget about them as he made his way back to Magnolia.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone in the guild stopped what they were doing and looked on in disbelief and confusion. Juvia had just barged in with Gray. But they had buried almost a week ago. Was it really him? Had Juvia just made some life-like model of him? No, even she wasn't that obsessed with Gray, but they did wonder sometimes. Silence enveloped the guild until Natsu broke out with, "Oi, Ice princess, let's go!" Gray responded instantly with, "shut up, baka" making him shut up. Everyone suddenly darted at Gray, firing off questions like "Where have you been?", "What happened?" and "Are you ok?" He shrugged the questions off and turned to Juvia. "I need your help". She looked at him in disbelief. He was asking her for help. He rarely ever needed help, and when he did he usually turned to Natsu, Lucy or Erza, probably because he'd known them for longer and had a stronger bond with them. Her mind raced with thoughts of what he could possibly need help with, although most of them were obscene fantasies that she knew would never come true, but that never stopped her from dreaming. Gray had to shake her by the shoulders, repeating her name as she did so just to get her to return her focus back to reality. He could barely hear himself think inside the guild with all the questions being fired at him left, right and centre. He grabbed Juvia's hand and lead her outside. Everyone tried to follow but their advances were blocked by Erza standing at the door suggesting that they "should give Gray and Juvia space to talk about what happened".

Outside, the sun was shining. Now that Gray was back, Juvia had no reason to make it rain. She was content with her life once again. All her troubles seemed to just melt away when she was in Gray's company. He asked her for help again, figuring she probably couldn't have heard him inside. She nodded with a smile, indicating that she was listening to him. He told her of where he'd been for the past week and what he was doing whilst she listened in silence, occasionally nodding to show that she was taking in all the information.

"They didn't want to kill me, I figured out that much, but I still need to figure out who was behind it all and why they would go through so much trouble to do something like this."

"So what does Gray-sama need?" she inquired.

"I've been trying to find those bandits. I figured that'd be a good place to start and try to find out who set it all up, but I can't find any trail to follow."

"Juvia will help", she said with a smile. "But shouldn't Gray-sama ask Natsu-san if he needs to find something. Natsu-san does have a really good sense of smell". Gray immersed himself in thought. That was genius. Why hadn't he thought of that? Time and time again Natsu had sniffed around like a bloodhound to find lost items or people, why should this time be any different? Gray walked into the guild and headed straight for Natsu before grabbing hold of his wrist, dragging him outside whilst he protested in vain.

"I need your nose", he said bluntly.

"For?"

"Tracking someone". Natsu pondered for a moment. He nodded and agreed to come with him. The trio of mages set off, leaving Magnolia through the main gates of the town.

The mages continued walking in the same direction for nearly half an hour before Gray talked to Natsu.

"You lead, flame-brain". Natsu couldn't be bothered arguing. He hadn't eaten in nearly an hour, he was practically starving. He started sniffing the air befoer pointing to a forest. They walked into the forest. It suddenly became darker as they walked under the shade of hundreds of densely packed trees. Natsu's nose guided the trio through the forest with ease. They encoutered practically nothing, but they still stayed vigilant as they progressed. The place did practically scream ambush after all. Juvia soaked in the sights and sounds of the forest as she walked. Nature had never failed to fascinate her, it had been her only friend growing up. The sun had set by the time they had left the forest and they were all growing tired from the constant walking. Mostly due to Natsu's constant moaning and whining, they decided to settle down and rest for the night. After gathering some loose wood, Natsu lit a fire for warmth and cooking. He pulled something out of his bag, earning him looks of disbelief, yet they both knew that he was prone to doing things like this. His hand emerged from his bag holding a whole chicken. He held the chicken over the fire to cook it whilst he moaned constantly about how long it was taking. Gray lead Juvia away from the fire and Natsu saying that they needed to talk. Juvia's eyes widened. He wanted to talk to her? Alone? Her heart started racing as she jumped to impossible conclusions that only she could think of from something as simple as this. The two sat down next to a tree.

"I'm glad you're here with me", he admitted. Her eyes widened as she heard those words. "If I was here by myself, who knows what might have happened to Natsu. He'd probably be dead or something by now". It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but she accepted it. She had just gone a week thinking that he was dead. Gray leaned in towards Juvia, closing the gap between them.

"Gray-sama...", she was cut off as Gray captured her lips with his own. Her nervous protests vanished as she realised what was happening. Gray was kissing her. He wasn't drunk, and he hadn't been dared which meant he was doing this of his own accord. Her heart leapt for joy as she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. The moments dragged on as the pair held each other and showed their feelings without having to rely on words. They broke away from each other, much to Juvia's disappointment. Before either of them could say anything, Natsu came running from the bushes exclaiming with delight about how the food was finally cooked. The three sat down to enjoy the chicken and rest for the night.

The three woke up late the next day. Natsu immediately got to work, wrinkling his nose as he sniffed at the air and lead the pair of mages, pointing in various directions. He finally stopped inhaling the scent as he pointed to a cave.

"In there".

They walked inside. Gray threw caution to the wind as he rushed in ahead of the other two. He never doubted Natsu's nose, but he was still surprised to see the group of bandits trying to make thie home inside the cave.

"Remember me?" The bandits looked up at the sudden disturbance, eyes wide in shock as they looked at Gray. They never thought that he would have the time to track them down. "I'll ask this once", he said calmly, yet his voice was still stern. "Why'd you do it?" One of the bandits pointed a shakey finger at a box in the corner. Gray nodded towards the box and Juvia approached it with caution. She opened it and took out a bit of paper, examining it as she did so. She took it over to her love interest. Gray looked at it before taking it out of her hands and put it in his pocket. His shirt fell to the ground as he took his signature pose: a closed fist in an open palm. The other two mages exited the cave to wait for him, knowing that he had to do this to put his mind at rest, to get the redemption that he craved. A few moments later, Gray emerged from the cave, shirtless and dusting himself off like he had just done a task as menial as taking out the trash. He smiled at Juvia, showing her he was good to go.

"Let's go find this inferior little punk and show him why messing with Fairy Tail isn't something that people can just get away with". Natsu looked at him with confusion, wondering who they were going after.

The trio arrived at a set of worn-down ruins from a civilisation that had long since passed. Without hesitation, they walked inside, ready to confront the person responsible for what had happened to Gray.


	4. Chapter 4

The trio entered the ruins, ready and willing to face the person inside. The person responsible for hurting Gray. The person who brought Juvia sorrow and lonliness. The person who made Fairy Tail grieve for a fallen nakama. The person who was about to get what was coming to them. With extreme prejudice. It didn't take long for them to find who they were looking for. An old aquantance of Juvia's, though not one that she cared to talk about any more. A person who had started a war with Fairy Tail by attacking it's members. It's family. The person who lost that war and was forced to disband their guild after it's destruction. Master Jose Porla. Though now he wasn't a master of anything and the small team of mages refused to acknowledge him as such. He was just a master of himself.

"Jose", each of the three mages addressed the person before them simultaneously with anger clearly present in their voices. He only offered a cocky smile in response, clearly he was self-obsessed and wasn't surprised that they had found him. He hadn't really covered up his tracks as well as he could have, hiring low-lives to do the dirty work and putting his name on letters that he sent to them rather than a false alias. Each of the three people before the ex-guild master had a different reason for wanting to teach him a lesson that he wouldn't soon forget. Natsu felt that only he had the right to fight Gray and come out on top (unless it was Erza, she was just too scary for him to do anything about her). Juvia had thought that she had lost the only person she had ever loved, and now that she knew who was behind it, there was no way she was going to let it go. She almost killed Meredy just because she said that she wanted to do the same to Gray. And Gray, well Gray was the main victim in all of this. Why wouldn't he want revenge for what happened.

"Hello, brats". They were used to being called this, but they had only ever heard Makarov address them like this. For Jose to do it was just... wrong. It didn't feel right. It felt like a really deep and hurtful insult. Natsu narrowed his eyes even further as he started at the man before them.

"Only Gramps calls us that!", he exclaimed in anger of being talked like he was below this man. Jose was clearly above him and Natsu didn't have a chance of beating him one on one, but he'd never admit that to any one. He did have his pride to consider after all. If he admitted he was incapable, he'd never hear the end of it. The entire guild would torture him for days on end and he'd become a laughing stock. Jose only sneered in response, not bothering to respond to Natsu's sudden outburst. Gray spoke with more composure.

"Why?"

Jose looked at him for a minute, as if thinking of what he was going to tell him, organising his words into fluent sentences.

"You destroyed my guild", he started calmly, keeping the smirk on his face as he talked. "Phantom Lord was once the greatest guild in all of Fiore, but then you got involved didn't you, you little fairies. You acted tough, you needed to be taught a lesson".

"So you attacked three of our closest friends?" Natsu interupted.

"Precisely". He sounded so smug, like he was some kind of master tactician that had done nothing wrong, like he was the victim, not them. "Nothing puts some one in their place better than striking out at their heart". The three mages listened in silence, rage building up inside of them as he talked about brutally assaulting their closest friends with such tranquility and arrogance. "Just because my guild ain't around no more, doesn't mean that I've forgotten about it all. You destroyed my guild, and then, like pouring salt into the open wound, you syphoned MY guild members!" the old man seemed to be losing his cool as he rambled on about how he was the victim to Fairy Tail, not the other way around.

"They came to us. We just gave them an opportunity, an option", Gray still kept his cool despite the rage that was bubbling over inside of him. Juvia nodded in agreement, having experienced the kindness that he was talking about first hand. Jose looked at her, noticing her for the first time since they had came into the ruins.

"Ah, the rain woman. One of the strongest mages in my late guild".

"Juvia isn't the rain woman any more. Gray-sama took away Juvia's rain, her sadness".

"Gray-sama?" Jose rrepeated in a tone that made him sound like he was mocking her. "When did you get so friendly with him? You know how love treats you, you think this time will be any different?"

"Hey!" Gray let out some of the anger that had been building up inside him. "I'd never even think of treating Juvia like those douchebags did. She deserves better". Juvia smiled and her cheeks gained a bit of colour as she admired what Gray was doing. He was sticking up for her. Something that hardly any one ever did for her. Especially the people she thought she loved in the past. Not even her parents would stick up for her, and now here he was, her love interest and the person she admired the most in this world, defending her. Jose scoffed in response.

"You're here to get revenge right? To enforce your idea of justice? Well let's get it over with quick then shall we?". He seemed bored with how the conversation was progressing.

"Fine by me", Natsu answered, clearly wanting to get straight to the action. He wasn't one who liked to settle problems with words. That's what his fists were for. Gray and Juvia seemed more hesitant. They were a lot more knowledgable when it came to how dangerous he really was and didn't want to get too beat up in the battle that was sure to ensue. Jose raised a hand, making Juvia flinch. He had used his magic to punish her for failing jobs in the past and she knew how much it could hurt. Natsu cut him off before he could use any of his magic sending a ball of fire hurtling through the air towards Jose. He dodged it with ease, but it stopped him from using his magic and gave the other two some time to get fully prepared for the fight. Fireball after fireball flew from Natsu's hands towards Jose, each one having less success than the last at hitting their mark. Gray suddenly joined the frey.

"Ice Make: Floor". The entire floor turned to white as a sheet of ice covered it, making his oppenent slide and almost trip as she landed after dodging yet another of the dragon slayer's attacks with ease.

"Water Slicer!" Juvia fired a few thin jets of water towards Jose with extreme speed and precision. He only just had time to move out the way when he saw it coming.

"Wing Slash Of The Fire Dragon!" Natsu made two whips of fire and went after Jose with them, swinging them downwards. He jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding them as he felt the heat near his face.

"Ice Make: Battleaxe!" A huge axe of ice appeared in Gray's hands and slashed at Jose, catching his side and drawing a little bit of blood. He looked down in disbelief. One of those kids had just made him bleed. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He was always used to being on top, being the best.

"Water Nebula!" A swirl of water appeared underneath Jose's feet before shooting upwards, sending him flying as it did so.

"Roar Of The Fire Dragon!" Natsu's mouth became a flamethrower, sending the flame racing towards the old man, knocking him backwards as it hit him.

"Ice Bringer!" Gray dashed through Jose with two swords made of ice, leaving a large ice crystal on his body where they hit. The crystal shattered showing a cut that let crimson seep out and run down his body.

"Water Cane!" Juvia's arm became a whip of water that she used to swipe at the opponent before her. Again and again, Juvia's water arm slammed against Jose's body, making him stumble each time it did so. He fell to the floor and landed with a thud. Her arm became flesh and bone again as she reverted back to her usual calm demeanour. For the first time ever, Jose had been beaten, rendered unable to fight, by a trio of kids that he considered to be far inferior to him.

"Let's go". Gray spoke calmly again, having vented his rage upon the ex-guild master. "He's beat".

Natsu pointed a threatening finger at Jose, "You're getting off light".

"Natsu!" Gray's voice called for him, telling him to follow.

Gray reached out for Juvia's hand, intertwining his fingers with hers as they started heading back to Magnolia.

"Yeah, yeah! Keep your pants on Ice Princess!" Gray looked down. Where were his trousers anyway? Juvia's cheeks flushed pink as she noticed that fact too. But she still didn't let go of his hand. She tightened her grip slightly instead, never wanting to let go of him.


End file.
